Happy Monday everyone! Hope this post reaches you well. Currently sitting on the couch listening to Wyatt read Rosie play in the other room while I see the most fall morning ever outside! I love this time of year! Here on the central coast, the weather dips below 70 and I instantly get out our puffy Patagonia jackets and boots. We’ve officially hit fall and the rest of the year is MY FAVORITE, I actually just saw a Christmas advertisement and I about died. I would like to say the best days of 2018 are just ahead and fall is the opener.

The other day we went to U Pick Apples and I snapped a couple of these photos, they were seriously so cute and the place was awesome! Someone had told me about it and I went for the first time! It was so fun because we were Able to take a basket and head out into the Orchard and pick and eat apples. They said for as long as you’re out there you can taste apples so we probably ate more apples than we bought to be honest! Kids loved running up and down and Wyatt brought his tractor and loaded all of his apples in there!

I love getting Wyatt and Rosie out to do fun things during this time of year because its all so festive and beautiful. Today I am sharing with you guys my fall musts for the Central Coast of California! Just a little list of goodies and memorable spots to create traditions, make memories, and enjoy life with the ones you love!

Feel free to drag this image to your desktop or go to my Instagram and screenshot it in my stories today!

I feel like I just stepped into a coffee shop with an old friend, with a million updates and not enough time! Life has been on fast forward, a constant movement and changes everywhere I turn. I can’t say I’m hating it because I’m actually have a lot of fun although it can feel a bit overwhelming at times. To prevent total word vomit, scatter brained I’m going to title a few sections and give you guys the jist.

Gypsy Life

My life is a homebody’s worst nightmare. Sadly, I am a homebody so channeling positivity and energy into making each place we are at a home has been quite the task. Since June 28th we have 1. moved out of our home and rented it out 2. moved into my parents house, moved out two months later 3. moved into Gavin’s parents guest cottage on their property and we will be moving out of here in two months! Where to next you ask? Finally our farmhouse property, however not in the way you may think! Each space has been so much fun and full of adventure and change for us all. As a mom I’ve never put so much effort into being the “home” my kids and husband need me to be.

Farmhouse, we’re fighting for you!

I’ve spent the last month really working on mindset because we are going to have to salvage as much wood and precious items from the farmhouse and rebuild a new one. Yup. Not how we pictured it but you know what, I’ve learned life never goes as planned and if this is the “not planned” part of my life I will take it. So there’s that update, been waiting to get that out for a minute. We are going to move onto the property and because rebuilding a new house overnight is going to take a minute, we are going to buy a little trailer to live in while our guest unit is finished and then live in that while we build our home! If you look at it backwards, by the time we are in our finished home we will have moved four times. It’s going to be a crazy ride but its will be worth it! Now we get a brand new house which I would be very annoying if I complained about that. So we are excited and our meeting today with the city went great!! Time for some vision boards!

Cabbage Leaves, Tiny Steps and our sweet Rosie Girl

Sweet Ro is almost officially weaned and this was WAY harder than I expected. Cabbage leaves, Tylenol and a few days of true blues are thankfully being me but holy cow did anyone else have trouble weaning? Rosie was totally fine but my body was like wait, hold up, I’ve produced milk for 13 months and now you want me to stop? It was really crazy, I’m not an emotional person so to have feelings of sadness for no reason was crazy and I really worked hard to get outside, workout, and hang with my mom to help me get through the hormonal change I didn’t expect!

Wyatt

My little love. In preschool three days a week for two weeks now and I still make sure he knows how much I miss him while he is at school. Around 12:30 I get really excited to go in and pick him up because he gets super excited and drops his toys and wants to be held when he sees me which really makes my mama heart happy! He has been learning so much at school its amazing, he will come home and talk about the funniest things. The other day he goes “You want to know the difference between a toad and a frog?” I am constantly laughing and listening to him totally smiling inside at how great of a little boy he is.

Parents Getaway!

Never ever ever ever ever underestimate the power of a getaway with your signifiant other, especially if you’re parents. We realized that over the past year we have done quite a bit of traveling but nothing with just the two of us. The second we realized that we were like get us the heck out of here! The morning we were supposed to leave I woke up at 7am and Gavin was already up, dressed and packed it was super cute. We went to Rosewood Cordevalle and we had the best time. We officially don’t know how to relax so we hiked and worked out then spent the rest of the time chatting and catching up on life. It feels good to be in love and to nurture our relationship. On the way home we were already planning our next getaway!

I will likely be writing individual posts about all those topics above but I thought I would update you on life because its going a million miles an hour! I appreciate you guys following along, I know you probably feel like you can’t keep up but I almost feel the same hahah! I’ve learned a lot about mindset lately and the importance of focusing on the good things, really keeping my blinders on so my focus is on the things that matter and things that are vital to keep my little family happy. At the end of the day, if I’m stressing about things that aren’t necessary it flows into my family and that’s the last thing we need so I’ve been grateful for that realization lately. . Talk to you guys soon, pancakes are burning lol.

As I was powering on the air bike, head down and sweat dripping, the perfect pump up song came over the load speakers that roared throughout the place. Eminem, Lose Yourself, a song I haven’t heard since walking out to a CIF basketball game my Senior year in high school. I would have laughed to myself and sang the lyrics I still remembered but I didn’t have the time or the extra breath to be honest as my partner and I were heading over to our next station. There are some moments and places that make you feel a little more badass than you really are… this place and moment was one of them!

From the moment I walked into McAlister Training to the second I walked out, I felt like I escaped into a place where regardless of age, gender or physical ability, you were going to kick ass and work hard. Ladies and Gents, McAlister’s owners Michael and Lauren have the recipe down… good people, detail oriented workouts, top-notch equipment, and a community of people who all care and want the best for one another. Plus they had bobby pins and endless hair ties in the bathroom.. need I say more? If you want to workout at a place that makes you feel like you belong, look no further.

Somehow they made of mom of two kids feel like I was training in an Olympic Training center and most importantly…. that I belonged there.

What I loved about this place is the fact that the groups are smaller, ours had 7 people so it felt a little like a personal training session. For 55 minutes went from station to station where we completed 3 rounds of the exercises, and at the end of each station we would gather as a group and do a few things to get our heart rates up before a few minutes rest. From TRX bands to weighted ball lunges, each station worked a different part of our bodies and kept us engaged. This workout flew by, in fact I don’t even remember seeing a clock there come to think of it!

I wasn’t the best at all the stations and I certainly wasn’t in the best shape but it didn’t matter, the energy that Micheal brought combined with the unbelievably good playlist had all 7 of us in the room pumped to be there.

The focus was not on who was best, but on how many reps I could do in a certain amount of time, so I never felt a pressure to keep up with those around me. I was at my own pace and motivated by those around me doing the same.

As mamas we are taught to stay in our comfort zones. Quite often people equate risk taking with bad mothering, and to be honest I haven’t found anything to be more untrue. Instead of giving ourselves reason why we can’t, we need to give ourselves reason why we can. We can and we should be out here pushing our boundaries and bodies.. heck we created humans, we can take on a good workout. This workout did more for me than just kick my ass, it showed me that I can still rock out to a good playlist and push my own limits. Never underestimate what a good workout with good people can do for you, McAlister fitness is the way to go.

Interested in a bundle of free classes? We are running a giveaway on my Instagram, enter HERE

Pink Champagne Cake, Pink sugar crystals, and fancy crystal cups was all we needed to celebrate Galentines Day at the cutest place we know, Madonna Inn!! You guys, this places is like your grandma’s house on steroids, so many trinkets and detail with so much color, especially PINK! My sister in law Grace and I decided we wanted to do something special for our girls and there was no doubt Madonna Inn was the ultimate place for girls breakfast and dessert! We invited my cousins, who I do everything with, and we all got dressed up and went for breakfast. Georiga (3), Lula (2), Rosie (6 months) and Marlowe (2 months) all experienced this amazing place for the first time.

A tradition is born

We started a tradition that every Galentiens day we will dress up and take the girls to Madonna Inn, even when they are in school we will let them go to school late! Since Gavin says Rosie can never date, I will be certain she always has a plan for cupids day so she won’t ever need a real date! Im kidding but Gavin is 100% serious. Poor Wyatt wasn’t in attendance but happily hanging with my Dad, his Papa, at the trailer yard. I have to think of a special day once a year we cerebrate with just him, let me know if you have any ideas!

We started thinking about who the girls valentines will be and the only answer we felt was appropriate at this age was the cutest single guy we know, Uncle Scotty! We love him, he is handsome, good manners, gentleman, and loves loves loves our girls so we decided to ask him in a sweet little way! He obviously said yes!

Have the best week! So happy seeing all your Kindness Challenge Ideas!

Happy Monday everyone! I am so beyond excited to do this challenge with you all. I feel a little funky calling it a challenge because doing kind things should come easily and naturally however when life gets going and our own days get busy and full of things it can be a challenge to actually stop, be conscious, and do something kind for someone. Knowing there are people like you out there who are consciously trying to make this world a better place warms my heart. You people are good.

SO where do we start? Week 1 will start in the most important place we have, home. That doesn’t necessarily mean the home you grew up in or the four walls that surround you… home can be a place you feel most comported and peaceful. Maybe your “home” is the gym, your workplace, a sorority house or relatives home. Home is where you go to fuel up, where you are energized and appreciated by those you love.

“Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do… but how much love we put in that action.” – Mother Theresa

The reason we are starting at home is because taking care of those love and showing them kindness is MOST important. Once we get don with the home we will work our way out and out, each week will be a different “place!”

So.. HERE Is what we are doing this week! Starting simple.

Take a piece of paper, a sticky note, some tape and a pen. We are going to write a random note, a word of affirmation, a positive saying, a kind sentiment and sticking it in a place that our loved one will see. This is simple, I know. I truly believe that starting simple, will help us with the longevity in creating habits of kindness. Sure you can keep it simple, or make it extravagant, totally up to you!! Be creative with where you hide it! Choose a spot or a saying that will really resonate with that person and make it thoughtful! You can do one note or you can take your person all around your home in a little scavenger hunt, you do what you feel prompted to do! Just be sure to write it out, there is something so unique these days about things that have been written by hand not over the phone or email!

For example, Gavin and Wyatt are in the shower right now so I decided to write Gavin a note and put it in between his ties! I know he will be going through them in the next few days getting ready for work!

For Wyatt, I am going to put his little note in a book we will read! He may not fully understand what it is, but when we find it I will act surprised and be sure to read it to him aloud!

Here are some ideas I was thinking of too!

Note in the..

Coffee maker – inside the refrigerator – in a shoe – in a jacket pocket – in a planner book – On the windshield of the car – Mailbox – Where someone will look up and see – taped to the back of the channel changer –

Be sure to take pictures of your ideas, I am going to keep a collection of all our photos and share them! We have a group of over 100 people, literally all ages which I LOVE so you are not alone in this challenge and I want to create a little community! You can put it up on Instagram and tag me or email me at Scburkard@gmail.com!

Good luck people! We have all week so go small and do one note or go big and do some for your entire family! I am proud of all of you guys, this world needs more of this!